Actress Hayden Panettiere, best known for her roles in the television series "Heroes" and "Nashville," died on 16 August from an accidental overdose of multiple drugs, including fentanyl, the Greenville County Coroner's Office in South Carolina confirmed on Tuesday. She was 36 years old.

Paramedics responded to Panettiere's apartment in Greenville, a city in the upstate region of South Carolina, after a 911 emergency call and performed CPR and advanced resuscitation efforts for more than 40 minutes before she was declared dead. A completed autopsy found fentanyl and its chemical byproduct in her system, along with the anti-anxiety medication alprazolam, a muscle relaxer, and a drug used to treat major depression and other serious mental health conditions. No signs of physical trauma that could have contributed to her death were found. Present in the apartment at the time were her on-and-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson. Greenville Police confirmed that their investigation into her death remains ongoing. A family spokesperson described it as "a complex case in which the investigation is continuing."

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid with effects comparable to heroin, is highly potent and carries a significant risk of accidental overdose even in small doses. The United States has been grappling with a prolonged opioid crisis: in 2023, opioids were involved in approximately 80,000 of the country's 105,000 fatal drug overdose deaths.

Panettiere had spoken candidly about her struggles in her memoir "This Is Me," published earlier this year. She described battling alcohol and drug dependency, postpartum depression following the 2014 birth of her daughter Kaya with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, and a turbulent relationship with Brian Hickerson, who was convicted in 2020 of felony domestic abuse charges, pleaded no contest to two counts of injuring a partner, and served a short jail term followed by four years of probation. Panettiere's younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died of a heart condition in 2023 at the age of 28.

Panettiere began her career as a child actress in commercials and soap operas before breaking through in 2006 as a cheerleader with supernatural powers in "Heroes." She later starred in "Nashville," playing an ambitious country singer — performing her own vocals — a role that earned her two Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress. Her death closes the chapter on a career marked by remarkable early success and, by her own account, an equally profound private struggle.